Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-01

precepts and example had indelibly inn
pressed upon her mind the necessity OF
unwavering fidelity to the banks interests
and that those interests were to be pre-
ferred to every other, personal or friendly.
She knew what she must do; but, ohl 1t
was very hard.
"You can't thenf asked Harmon,
rightly interpreting her hesitation.
Nettie looked him full in the face for
the first time.
mo, Harmon" she said, u can't"
Harmon understood without needing .
word of explanation. "You are right"
answered he; u am afraid it would be an
unsafe investmept-now." He went out,
saying no more. Back again in his count
tng-roOm, he writhed under q feeling OF
humiliation such as he had never known
before in all his manly, self-respecting
life. Now the deed was done, he was
obliged to confess that this last desperate
attempt to save himself savored of mean
ness, for he perceived that deep down in
his heart he had calculated to some ex-
tent upon this girls friendship to obtain
what no one would have given him on
purely business grounds. And, too, he
suddenly realized that, even If she had
been weak enough to yield, he could not
have taken advantage Of favor which
would inevitably have seriously injured
her with her employers.
ut has been a narrow escape for her"
he thought; "but for me the mischief Is
done. Only for this could 60 down with
q clear conscience"
Yet he could not feel as kindly toward
Nettie as before, such il the inconsistency
Of human nature in general, and the un-
reasonablensss Of lovers in particular.
Placed between regard for him and duty
to others, she had preferred the latter;
>ad while he acknowledged the justice Of
shis, and indeed for worlds would have
ssd haE do no differently. still he felt an
Illogical jealousy Of that duty, anWcuuzo
not help dimly associating her in his mind
with the combination of hostile forces ar.
rayed against him. Perhaps our hero ID
not especially heroic, but he is very man.
like.
Meanwhile how fares it with the cashieri
Not well, I am afraid: else why should
she, after Harmon had departed, 60 to the
great vault, open the safe. and remain
with her pretty head inside that grim re-
pository for several minutes, apparently
much occupied in arranging its contentsi
No doubt the contents required this at.
tention, however, since divers packages
of railroad bonds were afterward found
curiously marked with tiny blotches indi-
eating the presence Of moisture in the
safe. For the second time during her
cashiership the cash account wouldn't bal
ance, and nothing seemed to 60 smoothly.
1t was the same the rest of the week, and
the change in our young lady was SO
manifest that even the president rs ked
her if she was not slightly indisposed."
But one morning-the morning of the
fatal day-she came down to business the
old Nettie again-and more. Whatever
might be the cause, she fairly beamed
and sparkled with joy. Her black eyes
danced, her cheeks were perfect blush
roses, and altogether she looked so be-
bewitching that the seventh director (who
was q bachelor) felt his dried-up old heart
disturbed by passing regret that he
should be So years old, and bald into the
bargain. How could Nettie be happy on
this morning of all others, when lying
among the papers on her table was q slip
of paper which must be presented to
certain person before 8 o'clock that dayf
Her behavior was positively inexplicable.
Nor was it made any palmer when, after
writing few lines, and doing something
to one Of the great ledgers (she gave one
short sigh while thus employed), Nettie
put on her hat, took the slip of paper, and
eheerily tripped out to present it-in other
words, to ruin Harmon Curtis.
Harmon was sitting quietly at his desk
about that same time, waiting for what
he knew would speedily come. There
would be difference of s461 between his
liabilities and his resources-not much,
but enough for all practical purposes. In
a few hours he would have failed. All
the fruits Of hard-working, economizing
years behind him were naught-all his ef-
forts had been useless. He must begin
the world again with the remembrance of
failure ever hanging over him. Begin
again2 For whatf Before he could re-
trieve his fortunes, if he ever could, the
reward for which he toiled would be no
longer for him. If he had never previ-
ously ventured to tell what lay in
his heart, he certainly could not
do it now No, it made no diff
ference what became of him-there
was nothing to live for In short, he had
reached that stage Of mental suffering
where misfortune loses its power to pain,
and it WAS with considerable real calm
ness that he crieN. Come in," hearing the
knock he awaited. 1t was time for the
bank messenger.
But the door opened, and Nettie came
in. On seeing her he found that there
were still things that could wound him.
This was the last straw. Why could she
not have sent the clerk, as usual, and
spared him the nnal pang OF being dis
graced in her presence, and by her own
handf If she could do this, she evidently
cared nothing for him-not even enough
70 pity him.
It was too much for the young man,
worn out by TIE long strain of weeks, bold
and sturdy as he was. He laid his head
down upon the table and covered his
face.
A soft little hand ON his forehead lifted
II until his eyes fell upon two pieces OF
paper lying in front q hims one, the long
expected draft and the otAsr-why, the
other was check upon the First Natl onal
for $500, to Harmon Curtis or order, duly
signed "Nettie p. Butler.s
"That's the balance, isn't 1t, Harmonf"
asked Miss Nettis, in the most business
like way imaginable.
70, you darlingl you darlingl" cried he,
seizing her in his arms and kissing her an
uncountable number Of times. "An your
savings-I know it isl And you did it for
me?"
Nettie couldn't very we'll remain busi-
ness-like any longer under such exceed
ingly unbusiness-like circumstances, and
she didn't try. She simply said, "Yes, for
you, Harmon dear"
"Then you knew loved you, and you
understood why didn't"
"Of course knew it-all the time"
"But I was always afraid. I didn't
knou-N